Billy Cobham @ The Dakota 10/1/19

I saw 90% of the 1st set last night at The Dakota, of Billy Cobham's band play CROSSWINDS.

He played I believe most if not the entire Crosswinds album.

His band consisted of

Billy Cobham (drums)
Fareed Haque (guitar)
Tim Landers (bass)
Osam Elelwy (keyboard)
Paul Hanson (bassoon)
Randy Brecker (trumpet) – Special Guest

Crosswinds
Spanish Moss – 'A Sound Portrait'
The Pleasant Pheasant
Heather
Crosswind

Under the Baobab Tree
Snoopy's Search

I may be missing a track or 2, but then again, I arrived at like 7:10, so I missed the 1st 10 minutes or so.

Great to see Billy again, my 1st time since 2013 (my only other time seeing him live). He has such an addictive snare tone, like none-other, I sometimes just get lost in hearing it.

Fareed Haque and especially Randy Brecker were also a very big deal to see, playing with Billy. The Crosswinds album I'll admit to owning, but never listening to, per I have it only on Vinyl. I think I bought it for like $2 or $3 in fact. But it is the album that follows Spectrum, and the 1st cut "Spanish Moss" is a side-long epic, which for that alone I am guilty to have slept on.

I mean every piece they played last night had great, chilling, goosebump moments even beyond Billy's solos. Although I literally was in the FRONT ROW 15 feet away from him. At 75 years old or whatever he is, he still pulls this stuff off. And I didn't want to miss him again given who knows how many times, if ever, he'll be back.

THE DAKOTA: I'll be as tactful as I can be. But let's just say the amount of Elbow Room and close-proximity to the table I was sitting at almost made the Minnesota Zoo's amphitheater seem less claustrophobic.

And the fact someone actually was sitting in the Seat I paid for, lol. I found the seat I did at the same table and didn't bother telling the other person they were in my seat. I mean I arrived 10 minutes after the show started, but that still is no excuse.

That and the crowd seemed to be mostly Businessmen who probably have never heard a Mahavishnu Orchestra record in their life. The usual Dakota customer who comes to dine and has more money than they know what to do with.

It's fine, but it still pales in comparison to the experiences I used to love among the Jazz fanatics when they were located in Bandana Square or the group that would show up at the old Artist Quarter.

But so be it. I still got to see Billy Cobham again, maybe my favorite or 2nd favorite Jazz drummer (with respect to Mr. Wertico).

The Pneumatic Transit - Concerto for Double Moon (2014-2015)

The Pneumatic Transit on Facebook



Concerto For Double Moon Trailer from The Pneumatic Transit on Vimeo.


So this band/project The Pneumatic Transit, is more or less the baby/brainchild of Jeff Zampillo, who formerly had been with Exotic Animal Petting Zoo on their last (final?) album Tree of Tongues. The Pneumatic Transit though, on this debut album of theirs, Concerto for Double Moon, does not include any vocals and stylistically, is very much in the Jazz-Fusion or Jazz-Rock style.

What allows them to stand out though, it seems is their use of Cello, which from memory, I don't know many Jazz-Rock bands who've ever used Cello, at least prominently. I suppose bands like Mahanishnu Orchestra and The Dixie Dregs (or The Galactic Cowboy Orchestra) have featured violin (or fiddle) of course, but not necessarily in this way. At points, kind of metallic. At points, I thought of a band like Judgement Day even, in how heavy the cello sounded.

But beyond that, I think this album seems like the product of a lot of extensive work by Jeff and his band, which includes the sadly, late drummer Michael Mirro. A lot of his drum work is incredibly crisp and clean sounding. From the cymbal to the snare work. Very much a feature, like many of the fusion bands have had.

Overall, while I'm not sure how addictive this album has been, I still am marveled by a ton of it. It's quite impressive from a musicianship standpoint, and Composition-al standpoint,. A lot of less-is-more certainly, even at 51 minutes in length.. And it is definitely one of my favorite instrumental records and overall, for this year.

I would highly suggest people into progressive rock and jazz-rock/fusion to check it out. Especially fans of Mahavishnu Orchestra and King Crimson as the influence (in a good way) seems apparent throughout much of it.

Concerto for Double Moon is to be released on Tuesday October 13th, 2015.

The track list and writeup below offer more details.


1. Colloquium 1:01
2. Icarian Games 8:37
3. Apparition of Rosalyn 6:49
4. Benzedrine Cloud Burst 3:04
5. An Atlas of Oceanic Coves 7:44
6. Hypoxia 1:34
7. The Meketrex Supplicant 2:28
8. Enochian Dyskinesia 7:13
9. Sparrow Sparrow 2:15
10. Lioness 7:34
11. Silent Waves of Sleeping Soothsayers 2:41

The opening 1st track "Colloquium" is  short table-setter, that says hello with drums and a dissonant saxophone flurry of riffs. A bit chaotic, for even as short as it is. I suppose it is  slightly free-jazz-like.

The 2nd track "Icarian Games" starts out with this great driving riff from the guitar and fueled by the drums. It's odd though as after listening to it, I have an earworm that has me reminded  of Led Zeppelin, specifically "In the Light" for some reason. Also there's a patch used by their keyboard player in a short section that does remind me a lot of Return to Forever. Along with a lot of the twangy guitar riffs have a John McLaiughlin-like quality to them. Also the dynamics in this song stand out,  from the heavy and fast rhythm, that segue to softer sections that are slower.

Track 3 "Apparition of Rosalyn" opens with this odd, minor-key riff, but shortly after goes into a section with some clean guitar along with more keys. Eventually it gets rather atmospheric with a contrast of sounds from the Cello and Sax.

Track 4  "Benzedrine Cloud Burst" A shorter piece that also creates a nice atmospheric vibe. The Cello at times has me reminded of Return to Forever among some others.

The 5th piece "An Atlas of Oceanic Coves" has this intermittent use of fat synthesizers that create a dark atmosphere. It has a bit if a King Crimson influence at points, with its rich use of strings. It also includes some additional musicians on bass and drums.

Track 6  "Hypoxia" is an environmental interlude, that has what sounds like a Flute, which seems to be a patch used by the keyboards. It seems to echo the cello arrangement from at least 1 or more other sections on the record.

The 7th track "The Meketrex Supplicant"  like "Icarian Games" features another driving riff,  with strings and at points another dark, heavy oscillator tone from the keyboards.

The 8th track "Enochian Dyskinesia" is one of my favorites on Concerto for Double Moon.  It's led by this great funky, groove-ish riff from the guitar.  The Cello at points goes up and down in emphasis.  The 2nd half ends up having many layers being added as it gets more complex. Mostly between the guitar (a lot of picking) and the saxophone. A bit like the great Minnesota jazz-rock band Media Addicts have done. It concludes with a nice, clean string outro.

Track 9 "Sparrow Sparrow" is a cello driven piece that like many others, seems to be cleverly put together in the studio, with many layers eventually being added as it goes along, eventually to a wonderful climax.

The 10th track "Lioness" is another one of my favorites. The sax melody is rather ear-wormy, with its majestic theme that almost sounds like a March.  It also includes many layers of cello, that gradually build more and more. Eventually they fade and lead to a circus-like section. King Crimson seems to be clearly an influence on this piece, namely from the Red era it seems.

The 11th and closing track "Silent Waves of Sleeping Soothsayers" echoes the theme from "Lioness" on Cello. The drum work and use of harpsichord add more to this one at points. I am reminded of King Crimson again here, in a good way.


edit: Preorder is now up. $5 and includes a download of "Enochian Dykinesia"

Significant Albums: Jerry Goodman and Jan Hammer - Like Children (1974)

Odd enough in the random numbers this record comes up right after another record from 1974 in Yes's Relayer. Maybe 1974 was the year of Jazz-Rock? lol

Anyway, this album I find to be the best thing any of the members of Mahavishnu Orchestra have ever done. Even though a few of the songs were recorded on what ended up as The Lost Trident Sessions, and performed live with Mahavishnu on Between Nothingness and Eternity. The stuff on here, and those versions of "Stepping Tones," "Sister Andrea," and "I Wonder," I prefer. There is something about the less-is-more and clean production on this record which always wins me over.

My friend Creighton once brought this album down to KFAI and played 4 or 5 cuts off of it on the air. He didn't mention who it was until after playing them. And I will never forget how much he stressed in finding a copy of it, at the now long since gone, record store in St.Paul, MN (the store might have been called "One Stop Music Shop"? but I'm not certain). He mentioned how shocked he was to find it, and thought he'd never see a copy after his friend Tim had showed him it years before.

I'm not sure entirely how rare it was, but it certainly is less well known than most of the classic Mahavishnu records.

I guess as much as I love John McLaughlin and Billy Cobham especially, there is something incredibly warm and vintage about the way Jan Hammer and Jerry Goodman not only were featured on their primary instruments (keys and violin), but also Hammer on drums and Goodman on guitars. They fit each piece so well. And the production, both the original and the remaster, I just am in awe how clean and clear it is.

The songs themselves: "Country and Eastern Music" is a rocker that even the vocals stand out in many ways.

Like Children....., they are free to be up or down...
Dance to Country and Eastern Music, Feel the sweet balance of Life!..

I adore not only Hammer's moog synths on this track, but that gunning guitar riff is really ballsy. Also the bass line, which may be from Mahavishnu's Rick Laird, as I know he plays on some of this album, but which tracks specifically? I'd have to look it up.

Some of my other favorites include "Earth Still Our Home," "No Fear," "Stepping Tones," "Full Moon Boogie" and the closing track "Giving in Gently/I Wonder" is a favorite.  The walking piano on "I Wonder" I totally love. And Goodman's guitar part more or less takes some of what McLaughlin did on the Mahavishnu version, and made it his own.

This album can sound a little bit like a 70's hippie record; but with some tight compositions, that are both laden in Jazz and Rock (or prog). But it has its funky side, it's dynamics, its textures. Yet, it always sounds stripped down in a good way.

Maybe it was like if you took Mahavishnu or Return to Forever, and isolated a lot of the great melodic and harmonic ideas, and added some adequate vocal lines. When I listen to it, I feel like I'm living in 1974, hanging out at the lake on a sunny afternoon in July. Looking at a river, or a garden or a meadow or something, and am at peace. It really is a record I find is bright in tone and mood. Could drugs have made some impact on it? sure, perhaps, but what music being made in 1974 didn't?

And while I do enjoy a lot of the other Mahavishnu records and related works, I just find this album stands out as a blend of their sound and other influences in great way. Is it dated? some probably feel that's the case, but the remastering job I find does help alleviate some of that.

The Galactic Cowboy Orchestra - All Out of Peaches (2011). (1.0)

TGCO music store



1 All Out of Peaches 3:45
2 Ruby 1:21
3 Paparazzi 5:13
4 Memo 9 7:22
5 Cajun in Spurs 3:00
6 Straight to the Top 4:25
7 Five up Front 3:30
8 Minion 7:13
9 The Blaze 2:41
10 Ragabilly 4:23
11 At Cross Purposes 6:04


Here's an early 1x's hearing review I just posted on my rateyourmusic page.

Impressive follow-up to 2009's debut record Lookin' For a Little Strange. I just saw them live this past weekend (3/19/11), and I'm starting to warm up to the songs on this album as well. Among them, "The Blaze" "Minion," "Memo 9," "All Out of Peaches" "At Cross Purposes" and "Five up Front" were the band at their most technical and progressive I suppose. Or "New Grass Art Rock" as they (and/or others) are dubbing their sound.

I suppose depending how much time I give this album, it could get rated a little higher, but for now, it's an album that maybe is start-to-finish a little better than Lookin' For a Little Strange, but I'm not sure it has any tracks quite as memorable as "Dark Matter" or "Odd Men Out."

If you like Béla Fleck & the Flecktones, Dixie Dregs, Mahavishnu Orchestra or certainly John Wright's other main project Lehto & Wright; or even if you're a Rush fan (the band have covered YYZ, and namely Lisi Wright, TGCO's fiddle player, is a huge fan-of/is influenced by them), this band and album should be well worth your while to check out. And they're actually touring soon out East in the next few weeks (Philadelphia, North Carolina, New York City, maybe Boston even?).

edit: TGCO Calendar from their homepage
3/21 Rochester, MN
3/25 Geneva, NY
3/26 Hamilton, NY
3/27 Binghampton, NY
3/28 Scanton, PA
3/29 Philadelphia, PA
4/1 Winston-Salem, NC
4/2 Raleigh, NC
4/5 Atlanta, GA
4/7 IndianaSpolis, IN
4/8 South Bend, IN


But given recent history of incredible progressive albums from Lehto & Wright, Greg Herriges, Dean Magraw among others, I'm basically assuming this will be another terrific record that nobody outside of Minnesota and in this case, the Bluegrass and niche-jazz scenes will hear about. Why? I don't know, other than if people can't download it for free, they'll never check it out.

It's again, THEIR LOSS. Maybe years or decades from now, they'll be regretting it

I'll add more soon including just a link or 2.

AllMediaReviews Essential Music: Mahavishnu Orchestra/Related Projects

Mahavishnu Orchestra/Solo sideprojects

When I was 1st introduced to "fusion" or more so known as "jazz-rock" around 2000 or 2001, Mahavishnu Orchestra along with Return to Forever and Weather Report were the 3 names stressed to me to be essential. And their classic period when they had the lineup of John McLaughlin (guitar), Jan Hammer (keys), Jerry Goodman (violin), Rick Laird (bass) and Billy Cobham (drums). That lineup was maybe best known for 2 records in particular. Birds of Fire and The Inner Mounting Flame. And it's funny how while I did like those albums, I never was as grabbed by them quite as much as by a couple of the others. For starters, one of the people who introduced me to Mahavishnu and most of the jazz-rock initially was also the cohost of the radio show I did on KFAI around that time. He also on 1 show, ended up playing some music from my favorite jazz (or related to jazz) record of all-time, Jerry Goodman and Jan Hammer's Like Children.



That show he played some of the stuff off that album really impressed me. He actually was so excited of finding a copy at the time, he didn't even announce what the artist was on the air until after playing several cuts off it. One of the tracks he played was the fat, lead bass melody track "Country and Eastern Music" which totally got my attention on what kind of album it was. So much so, I seek-ed it out only to find it was never issued on cd. I found a couple of tracks from a Jeff Beck Group live cd, and a Jan Hammer compilation, but finally around 2005 or 2006 Jan Hammer's back catalog was being issued or reissued on cd, and it was made available. The percussion and production stood out. It really flowed well, and unlike the other MO records, it really seemed to be less-is-more.



I recall not long after hearing some Like Children, my co-host brought in and played some music off the recently released disc The Lost Trident Sessions. I for some reason, enjoyed that album more than any of the actual MO albums I'd heard. I suppose part of that had to do with the fact it included some of the LC songs,"I Wonder" and "Stepping Tones" namely.

But over time, I just found that material, better, and the whole album working better as a whole. Not too long after, I picked up their live record Between Nothingness and Eternity which included a lot of that music as well, although I won't deny, that live album I haven't ever got too into, really nearly as much as like Weather Report's Live and Unreleased.



However, one live album I have got into, and enjoy a fair amount, just like, Goodman/Hammer's Like Children, is not an actual Mahavishnu album, but included their magnificent drummer Billy Cobham along with Frank Zappa alum George Duke, simply titled Live in Europe. While they didn't play any of the MO music, they were doing a cool, funky kind of jazz-rock. And one of the biggest things about that album, was actually the cover art. The drawings with their heads suspended by disembodied hands, was just too freaky and wacked-out for me to ignore. And it remains one of my favorite album covers to this day. Plus it looks really cool on vinyl.

Of course there were other sideprojects I came to enjoy. One being Billy's solo record Spectrum which by many is regarded as essential as any of the Mahavishnu albums, and any in jazz-rock.

And then John McLaughlin and his East-Indian-styled Shakti project. And while I have never been consumed by that, I have always considered it among, if not the best *fusing* of jazz and ethnic music. Plus the live experience seeing it is as unique a live experience I've ever had. I had known Zakir Hussein from seeing him play live with some different noteworthy performers. Fareed Haque, Kai Eckhardt and Steve Smith in the band "East Meets Jazz" along namely. So hearing Zakir play with McLaughlin was certainly as enjoyable as it sounds. With Shakti, it was in some ways the opposite of what McLaughlin was doing with MO. It was more flowing and free-form. Which admittedly, is best heard live, but the album I have, is still as good of a mood album that I have listened to in my music listening experience.

Another part of my experience with MO was how I have seen some people cover their music live. Probably most notably, Dean Magraw's band Eight-Head once played "Dance of Maya" at the Dakota Jazz club, and I was floored. Which part of that I'm not surprised since it's Dean and Eight-Head, but also part of that makes me wonder if my appreciation for these guys might be closer to many of their big fans, if I ever had the chance to see them live. I can say something similar about finally seeing Return to Forever back in 2008, but I'm skeptical if a true classic lineup reunion will ever happen. But who knows since a RTF reunion was often doubted as well.

But in the mean time, I hope more folks can discover them, and especially those related releases like Like Children and Live In Europe namely.

Albums: Like Children, The Lost Trident Sessions, Live In Europe, The Inner Mounting Flame
Songs: I Wonder, Stepping Tones, The Noonward Race, Country and Eastern Music
Sister Andrea, Full Moon Boogie, Dance of Maya, Earth (Still Our Home), Giving In Gently/I Wonder

audio

All Good People (short film)

this still remains I think the greatest youtube film I've come across (not counting adam02's work). It's a bit like Ghost World in how it does (or could) represent my life/who I am/how I feel/what I go through, etc in many ways.